The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has produced some eye-catching statistics on the global issue of deforestation. For example, because far less forest has been lost in Brazil than elsewhere, the country used to contain less than 10% of the world’s total forested area but now has almost 30%. Read more

According to figures released this week by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, annual deforestation in the Amazon region has fallen to its lowest level since 1988, when satellite monitoring of deforestation began. Read more

The recently launched Low Carbon Agriculture Programme forms part of Brazil's commitment to cut its projected emissions by more than a third by 2020. Read more

According to the international affairs institute Chatham House, illegal deforestation in the Amazon region has fallen by more than half in the last decade. Read more

As part of the Brazilian government's drive to eliminate illegal deforestation caused by cattle farming, the Boi Guardião programme is using satellite images to monitor thousands of farms in the Amazon region. Read more

Speaking at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, President Lula reiterated the principle of countries' common but differentiated responsibilities for tackling global warming, and said the Kyoto Protocol should not be replaced by a mechanism that makes fewer demands on rich countries. Read more

Meeting this week in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, representatives from the nine countries that share the Amazon basin agreed that developed countries must provide financial help to help combat deforestation. Read more

Total deforestation between August 2008 and July 2009 was 45% less than over the previous twelve months. Brazil aims to reduce deforestation by 80% as part of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 36% by 2020. Read more

The total area of pasture in Brazil has actually been decreasing, and almost none of the Brazilian beef or leather sold in EU countries comes from the Amazon region. Read more

Successful measure to be extended to 2010, as environment minister declares 'soy is not a relevant factor in Amazon destruction any more'. Read more

A new law approved on 25 June aims to reduce land disputes and combat deforestation by establishing private ownership of landholdings in the region. Read more

José Goldemberg has received the Blue Planet Prize for his contribution to the development of clean sources of energy. Read more

The Brazilian government has announced new measures to combat illegal deforestation and promote sustainable development in the Amazon region. Read more

The world’s leading green energy prize announced that Cooperativa Regional de Electrificação Rural do Alto Uruguai Ltda (CRERAL), a regional electrification co-operative operating in Erechim, South Brazil, is one of the pioneering renewable energy projects that will receive a prize of up to £20,000. Read more

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has strongly rejected accusations that Brazil's sugarcane-based biofuels programme is harmful to the environment and a contributory factor in the increase in global food prices. Read more

Ibama has already identified the worst offenders in the states of Pará, Mato Grosso and Rondônia. Read more

In São Paulo state, 79 sugarcane mills have made a formal commitment to end the practice of burning sugarcane fields prior to harvest. Read more

By 2008, Brazil will have reduced the emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane gas, according to José Miguez, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change. Read more

A meeting of the US-Brazil Steering Group took place in Brasilia on 20 August with the aim of furthering cooperation between the two countries in the area of biofuels. Read more

The Brazilian Government launched the National Clean Development Year on 17 July to tackle global warming and reduce CO2 emissions through Brazilian CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects in the context of sustainable development. Read more

The Ministry of the Environment has announced that the Amazon Protected Areas Programme (ARPA), created in 2002, established 18 million hectares of protected areas in the region by 2006. Read more

The state of Pará in northern Brazil has created the largest single conservation area on Earth, giving protected status to 15 million hectares of rainforest – an area larger than England. Read more

Article written jointly by Brazil's foreign, environment, and science & technology ministers, published in The Independent on 31 October 2006. Read more

Figures released by the Environment Ministry show that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon is continuing to fall. Read more

Brazil anticipates producing biofuel at a rate of 1 billion litres per year by the end of 2007, and Haiti is considering adopting aspects of the Brazilian model. Read more

Letter written by Ambassador José Mauricio Bustani, published in The Independent on 10 July 2006. Read more

Article written by Environment Minister Marina Silva on 1 June 2006. Read more